48 4 Identity

> What's in a name?

In England, the notion of the honour of the family name is almost non­existent (though it exists to some degree in the upper classes, in the other three British nations and among ethnic minorities). In fact, it is very easy to change your family name - and you can choose any name you like. In the 198os one person changed his surname to Oddsocks McWeirdo El Tutti Frutti Hello Hippopotamus Bum.

There are no laws in Britain about what surname a wife or child must have. Because of this freedom, names can be useful pointers to social trends. The case of double-barrelled names is an example. These are surnames with two parts separated by a hyphen; for example, Barclay-Finch. For centuries they have been a symbol of upper-class status (originating in the desire to preserve an aristocratic name when there was no male heir). Until recently, most people in Britain have avoided giving themselves double-barrelled names - they would have been laughed at for their preten­sions. In 1962, only one in every 300 surnames was double-barrelled.

By 1992, however, one person in fifty had such a name. Why the change? One reason is feminism. Although an increasing number of women now keep their maiden name when they marry, it is still normal to take the husband's name. Independent-minded women are now finding a compromise by doing both at the same time - and then passing this new double-barrelled name onto their children. Another motive is the desire of parents from different cultural and racial back­grounds for their children to have a sense of both of their heritages.

The same lack of rigid tradition applies with regard to the first names that can be given to children. This is usually simply a matter of taste. Moreover, the concept of celebrating name-days is virtually unknown.

Class

Historians say that the class system has survived in Britain because of its flexibility. It has always been possible to buy or marry or even work your way up, so that your children (and their children) belong to a higher social class than you do. As a result, the class system has never been swept away by a revolution and an awareness of class forms a major part of most people's sense of identity.

People in modern Britain are very conscious of class differences. They regard it as difficult to become friends with somebody from a different class. This feeling has little to do with conscious loyalty, and nothing to do with a positive belief in the class system itself. Most people say they do not approve of class divisions. Nor does it have very much to do with political or religious affiliations. It results from the fact that the different classes have different sets of attitudes and daily habits. Typically, they tend to eat different food at different times of day (and call the meals by different names - see chapter 20), they like to talk about different topics using different styles and accents of English, they enjoy different pastimes and sports (see chapter 21), they have different values about what things in life are most important and different ideas about the correct way to behave. Stereotypically, they go to different kinds of school (see chapter 14).

An interesting feature of the class structure in Britain is that it is not just, or even mainly, relative wealth or the appearance of it which determines someone's class. Of course, wealth is part of it - if you become wealthy, you can provide the conditions to enable your children to belong to a higher class than you do. But it is not always possible to guess reliably the class to which a person belongs by looking at his or her clothes, car or bank balance. The most obvious and immediate sign comes when a person opens his or her mouth, giving the listener clues to the speaker's attitudes and interests, both of which are indicative of class.

But even more indicative than what the speaker says is the way that he or she says it. The English grammar and vocabulary which is used in public speaking, radio and television news broadcasts, books and newspapers (and also - unless the lessons are run by Americans - as a model for learners of English as a foreign language) is known as 'standard British English'. Most working-class people, however, use lots of words and grammatical forms in their everyday speech which are regarded as 'non-standard*.

Nevertheless, nearly everybody in the country is capable of using standard English (or something very close to it) when they judge that the situation demands it. They are taught to do so at school. Therefore, the clearest indication of a person's class is often his or her accent. Most people cannot change this convincingly to suit the situation. The most prestigious accent in Britain is known as 'Received Pronunciation' (RP). It is the combination of standard English spoken with an RP accent that is usually meant when people

Scene: Night has Just fallen. The ex-queen and her husband arrive with a driver in a furniture van (with all their belongings in it), ready to move in to the house which they have been allotted. Their new neighbours, Tony and Beverly Threadgold, are standing at the front door of their house.

The Threadgolds watched as a shadowy figure ordered a tall man out of the van. Was she a foreigner? It wasn't English she was talking was it? But as their ears became more accustomed they realized it was English, but posh English, reolly posh.

'Tone, why they moved a posho in Hell Close?' asked Beverly.

'Dunno,' replied Tony, peering into the gloom, 'Christ, just our bleedin'¹ luck to have poshos nex' door.'²

A few minutes later, the Queen addressed them. 'Excuse me, but would you have an axe I could borrow?'

'An ix?' repeated Tony.

'Yes, an axe.' The Queen came to their front gate.

'An ix?' puzzled Beverly.

'Yes.'

'I dunno what an "ix" is,' Tony said.

'You don't know what an axe is?'

'No.'

'One uses it for chopping wood.' The Queen was growing impatient. She had made a simple request; her new neighbours were obviously morons. She was aware that educational standards had fallen, but not to know what an axe was ... It was a scandal.

'I need an implement of some kind to gain access to my house.'

'Arse?'

'House!'

The driver volunteered his services as translator. His hours talking to the Queen on the motorway had given him confidence.

'This lady wants to know if you've got an axe.'

Just then, the Queen came down the garden path towards the Threadgolds and the light from their hall illuminated her face. Beverly gasped. Tony clutched the front-door frame for support before saying, 'It's out the back, I'll geddit.'

Left alone, Beverly burst into tears.

'I mean, who would believe it?' she said later, as she and Tony lay in bed unable to sleep. 'I still don't believe it, Tone.'

"Nor do I, Bev. I mean, the Queen next door. We'll put in for a transfer, eh?'³

Slightly comforted, Beverly went to sleep.

From The Queen and I by Sue Townsend

¹ a fairly strong swear word

² i.e. he is automatically unhappy about somebody from a different class moving in next door

³ i.e. they will ask the local council to move them to another house

> Poshos

The extract on the left illustrates how people from different classes do not like to mix and how language is an important aspect of class. It is taken from a fantasy novel in which a republican government is elected in Britain and the royal family are sent to live on a working-class housing estate, in a road known to its inhabit­ants as 'Hell Close’.